Whose Fee Is It Anyway? When States Should Pay Up in Tax Litigation

Stephen Kranz said more states should cover attorney’s fees for taxpayers who contest and win litigation with tax authorities, because it would “level the playing field between the government, which has the power of assessment, and taxpayers, who are forced to defend against that power when it’s used inappropriately.” Diann Smith added that “the availability of attorney’s fees for a successful taxpayer is not necessarily found in the tax or revenue statute. A taxpayer can sometimes look outside those statutes and use the more general statutes to claim attorney’s fees.”